Paradesi Synagogue

About Paradesi Synagogue

 History of Paradesi Synagogue

The Paradesi Jewish synagogue was built in 1568, almost 1500 years after the beginning of the first Jewish connection with the southern state of Kerala in country India. It was built on the land, adjacent to the Mattancherry Palace, given by the erstwhile king of Cochin.

Exterior View of Paradesi (Foreigner's) Synagogue in Cochin city, Kerala State of India. 

The Paradesi Synagogue was built in 1568 by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi for the flourishing Jewish community in Kochi composed mainly of Malabari Jews and the refugees from the Portuguese religious persecution of Jews locally from Cranganore and farther afield originating from Spain and Portugal. In 1662, it was destroyed by the Portuguese and then reconstructed, two years later, by the Dutch.

Interiors of Paradesi (Foreigner's) Synagogue in Cochin city of Kerala state in India.

Paradesi Synagogue is one of the oldest surviving synagogues in India that is very much active till 2021. 

Paradesi, what?

The word Paradesi means foreigner in many Indian languages. It refers to the White Jews - A mixture of Jews from Kodungalloor, Middle East and Europe.

The Jews of Cochin

The first Jews to come to India were the Jews in Cochin in southern India (today, it’s the port city of Kochi) were the so-called "Black Jews," who traditionally spoke the Judeo-Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala. Some say that these "Black Jews" settled in the Malabar Coast during the times of King Solomon of Israel, and after the Kingdom of Israel split into two. 

The Pardesi Jews, also called the "White Jews" settled later, coming to India from western European nations such as Holland and Spain, and spoke the ancient Sephardic language of Ladino. A notable settlement of Spanish and Portuguese Jews starting in the 15th century was Goa, but this settlement eventually disappeared. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Cochin had an influx of Jewish settlers from the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain.

The Jews of Cochin traditionally say that they came to Cranganore (an ancient port near Cochin in south-west India) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. They had, in effect, their own principality for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Moors, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode) attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. He granted them a site for their own town that later acquired the name "Jew Town" (by which it is still known).

Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and indulged in persecution of the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch Protestants were tolerant, and the Jews prospered. In 1795, Cochin passed into the British sphere of influence. In the 19th century, Cochin Jews lived in the towns of Cochin, Ernakulam, Aluva, and North Paravur.

Most of Cochin's Jews have immigrated (principally to Israel), intermarried, or converted, and now there are believed to be only 13 elderly Indian-born Jews, from seven families, still living in Kochi. There are currently 53 practicing Cochin Jews in Kerala, along with three synagogues. The Pardesi Synagogue in Kochi, built in 1568, is the only one still open and is a protected heritage site. Many fear that the Jews of Cochin will soon wither away.

Mota Nehemiah

MOTA, NEHEMIA (d. 1615?), poet whose influence in *Kochi (Cochin) remains very tangible to this day. 

The Malabari Jews honor the anniversary of his death on the first day of Chanukkah with a special banquet followed by singing his hashkavah (Sephardi memorial prayer). But his religious significance extends to the Paradesis as well, and his tomb in Jew Town functions as the focal point of many vows, a spot for consolation in times of distress, and as an object of pilgrimage for Christians, Muslims, and Hindus as well as Jews.

The earliest reference in scholarship devoted to Nehemia Mota is found in the 1907 edition of the Jewish Encyclopedia, where it is stated rather misleadingly that in 1615 a false messiah appeared among the Jews of Cochin in the person of Nehemia Mota. Most authorities accept that Mota was from the Yemen; others say he was an Italian Jew who came to Kochi via Yemen, and still others hold that he was Polish. He married a woman from the black Jewish community. The 1757 edition of the Shingli Maḥzor contains about 20 of Nehemia's songs which, for reasons unknown, were deleted from the 1769 edition. They have reappeared in recent Israeli editions of the Shingli rite.

Nehemia's tomb is located down an alley in a poor area just south of Jew Town. 

It resembles the "village deity" (grammatadevata) shrines of South India, except for the absence of any images or symbols of the saint. The presence of Nehemia inspires fear as well as blessings – such ambivalent feelings typify the cults of the village deities. Women, Jewish and Gentile, make vows and light candles at the tomb whenever they face a crisis of health, an employment opportunity, or a long journey.

Mota Nehemiah's Memorial Tomb

The incorporation of a foreign saint into the Hindu pantheon is not uncommon, and this mechanism serves to acculturate the foreign community into Hindu society.

Nehemia's tomb bears the following Hebrew transcription:

 

Here rest the remains of the famous kabbalist, The influence of the light of whose learning shines throughout the country, The perfect sage, the hasid, and God-fearing Nehemia, the son of The dear rabbi and sage Abraham Mota. Our Master departed this life on Sunday, the 25th of Kislev, 5336. May his soul rest in peace. 

Source of Information Credits: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/mota-nehemia